Pivot bracket for center-hung doors



Dec. 14, 1965 M. L. CECALA 3,22,7M

PIVOT BRACKET FOR CENTER-HUNG DQORS Filed June 1, 1962 INVENTOR- MICHAEL L. CECALA United States Patent 3,222,711 PIVUT BRACKET FOR CENTER-HUNG DOORS Michael L. Cecala, Franklin Park, 111., assignor to Rixson linc., a corporation of Illinois Filed June 1, 1962, Ser. No. 199,507 4 Claims. (Cl. 16--151) This invention relates to bracket elements for mortised attachment to the bottom edge of a center-hung door for engagement with the thrust bearing of the bottom pivotal mounting for the door.

Center-hung doors, generally equipped with some form of door-closing mechanism, are hinged on top and bottom pivotal mountings the pivotal axes of which are vertically alined as close as practical to the jamb of a door-way frame. These top and bottom pivotal mountings comprise coacting elements that are located, respectively, in or on the door ends and in or on the transom of the door-way frame and in or on the floor. The topmounting element, which is secured to the transom, includes a depending spindle to which is attached an operating arm secured to the door end. The bottom-mounting element, which is located in or on the floor, includes a thrust bearing on which is rotatively seated a bracket element secured to the door.

Center-hung doors always have presented a problem of setting the door relative to the door-way in such a manner as to make possible a facile connection of the door on these pivotal mountings. The present invention is intended to provide a solution for this problem.

The main objects of this invention are, therefore, to provide an improved form of bracket element for the bottom pivotal mounting of center-hung doors; to provide an improved bracket element of this kind which permits a quick setting of the door on a previously installed thrust bearing for the bottom pivotal mounting of the door; to provide an improved bracket element of this kind which is self-locking when the door is shifted into operative position on the thrust bearing; to provide a self-locking bracket element of this kind which is easily released to permit a quick removal of the door from the lower pivotal mounting; and to provide an improved bracket element of this kind which is simple in construction, hence economical to manufacture and facile to use.

Two embodiments of this invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a centerhung door, in closed position, the lower pivotal mounting for which incorporates a self-locking bracket element constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a bracket element, for a bottom pivotal door mounting, constructed in accordance with this invention and particularly designed for use with non-adjustable thrust bearings;

FIG. 3' is a longitudinal, sectional view of the bracket element shown in FIG. 2, taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of that figure, a supporting thrust bearing being shown in dotted outline;

FIG. 4 is a left-hand end view of the bracket of FIG. 3 taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of that figure;

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view illustrating another form of bracket element constructed in accordance with this invention and more particularly designed for use with adjustable thrust bearings; and

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the bracket element shown in FIG. 5 positioned on an adjustable thrust bearing.

The essential concept of this invention is to provide a bearing block channeled on one face, inwardly from one end, to form a guided approach to an intermediate thrust-bearing seat and having a gravity-actuated latch "ice bar adjacent the open end of the channel for automatically locking the block in operative relationship on a fixedly positioned thrust bearing, whereby a door, having the bearing block mounted thereon, can be positively positioned and secured on the thrust bearing by a simple edgewise movement of the door over the thrust bearing.

A bearing block or pivot bracket, for use with a centerhung door 10, and embodying the foregoing concept, comprises an elongated body 11 having an open-end channel 12 on one face thereof defined by lateral walls or flanges 13 inwardly integrated with an arcuate flange 14 concentric with a thrust-bearing seat 15 between which seat 15 and the open end of the channel 12 is mounted a gravity-actuated latch bar 16.

A conventional center-hung door 10, such as that shown in FIG. 1, is hinged on pivotal mountings 17 and 18, indicated in dotted outlines. Generally, the upper pivotal mounting 17 is part of a door-closing mechanism which includes a spindle 19 to which is attached an operating arm 21 mounted in the upper edge of the door 10. The lower pivotal mounting 18 generally is a two-piece structure with a thrust bearing 22, for positioning on or in the floor, and some form of bracket element for attaching to the door 10 and providing a seat for the thrustbearing 22. The spindle 19 and the thrust-bearing 22 are vertically alined usually closely adjacent to the doorway jamb 23. Obviously, the thrust bearing 22, whatever its structure, bears the entire weight of the door 10. Such a mounting for the door 10 presents the major problem of a facile positioning of the door on these alined pivotal mountings 17 and 18 and attaching the door arm 21 to the spindle 19.

The pivot bracket or bearing block 11, structured as shown in FIGS. 2-4, is particularly designed for use, as a rule, with a non-adjustable thrust bearing, indicated at 22 in FIG. 3. However, it could also be used with an adjustable thurst bearing such as that shown at 22 in FIG. 6. The bearing block 11, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is structured for use, as a rule, with an adjustable thrust bearing. However, this second form of the bearing block could also be used with a non-adjustable thrust bearing if desired. Two types of thrust bearings adapted for use with these pivot brackets, are shown and described in my copending application Serial No. 199,321 filed June 1, 1962 and now Patent No. 3,117,827.

The essential difference between these two types of pivot brackets, 11 and 11', is the character of the thrustbearing seat 15 and the form and mounting of the latch bar 16. There, also, is a slight difference in the contour of these two types of pivot brackets, but this is not critical. Each form of bracket 11 is provided with a series of holes 24 for the insertion of screws for anchoring the block in the suitably channeled lower end of a door 10.

In the form of pivot bracket 11 shown in FIGS. 2-4, the thmst bearing seat 15 is the beveled end 26 of a trunnion 27 supported in a vertically transverse bore 28, located intermediate the ends of the bracket 11. The trunnion 27 has a radial flange or rim 29 at its upper end which seats on an inwardly projecting flange 30 at the bottom end of the bore 28. At its upper or outer end, the bore 28 is threaded internally to receive a disk nut 31. Interposed between the trunnion 27 and the nut 31 is a spring 32 which may be tensioned by the turning of the nut 31 in the bore 28. The tension-adjustment of the trunnion spring 32 permits accommodating the support of the trunnion 27 on the thrust bearing 22 to the weight of the door 10 on which the pivot bracket 11 is mounted.

The latch bar 16, for the form of bracket 11 shown in FIGS. 24, has a pair of pins 33 extending outwardly from the opposite lateral sides and seated in elongated slots 34 in the lateral flanges 13. Thus the latch bar 16 is gravity-actuated to a position which disposes the lower end edge 36 below the beveled end 26 of the trunnion 27. The under face of the latch bar 16 is tapered upwardly and outwardly from the end edge 36, as shown at 37, so that the movement of the bracket 11 over the thrust bearing 22, in the left hand direction as shown in FIG. 3, will lift or retract the latch bar 16 into a cavity 38 in the bracket body until the trunnion 27 is seated on the thrust bearing 22. When the trunnion is so seated, the latch bar 16 drops back gravitationally into the position shown in FIG. 3 and is thus positioned to keep the bracket in operative relationship on the thrust bearing 22 and prevent inadvertent dislodging of the door 10 therefrom.

A pin 39, such as a screw, is threaded into the outer end of the bracket body and may be seated in a recess 40 in the end of the latch bar 16 to hold it in its elevated or retracted position in the cavity 38. With the latch bar 16 in such retracted position a door 10, mounting the bracket 11, may be shifted onto and off from a thrust bearing 22 without its becoming locked to the thrust bearing. This is particularly advantageous when it becomes necessary to remove the door from the pivotal elements 17 and 18 since the latch 16 can readily be lifted, from the outer end of the bracket, by means of a screw driver or the like and the screw 39 will hold the latch while the door is being manipulated In the use of the pivot bracket shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 inclusive the trunnion spring 32 is tensioned, by the nut 31, to substantially counterbalance the weight of the door 10 so that the trunnion 27 will normally be at the bottom of the bore 28 with the flanges 29 and 30 engaged. This not only obviates any downward pull on the spindle 19, of the closer mechanism, and on the operating arm 21, but also permits automatic adjustment of the door between upper and lower pivot mountings in those cases where the vertical distance between the pivot mountings, or the transom and threshold of the door frame, may be short of that planned for the particular door. In this latter case the spring 32 will yield, allowing the trunnion 27 to rise suificiently to accommodate the door, with only agnegligible upward force against the upper pivot spindle 1 In the form of pivot bracket shown in FIGS. and 6, the thrust bearing seat 15', in the bracket 11, is simply an annular area around the bore 41. The latch bar 16, much more slender in form than the latch bar shown in FIGS. 24, is hinged on a pin 42 at its outer end, adjacent to the end of the bracket 11', so that in its gravity-actuated position the opposite end 43 is disposed below the thrust bearing seat 15'.

In use, either of these forms of pivot bracket is secured in the channeled lower end of a door by screws inserted through the holes 24. After securing the door arm 21, whatever its nature, in the channeled upper end of the door, the door is ready for seating on the thrust bearing 22 to permit attaching the door arm 21 to the spindle 19. Such setting of the door on the thrust bearing 22 and attaching of the door arm 21 to the spindle is accomplished while holding the door in a vertical position, with its pivoting or hinged edge alined with the door frame 23, and then sliding the bottom end of the door horizontally over the thrust bearing 22 until the bracket 11 is seated on the thrust bearing and the latch bar 16 has dropped to latching position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. As will be apparent, this is done without lifting the door any more than its normal clearance above the threshold and the work can be done by one man. As this is done, and depending upon the nature of the operating arm 21, the upper end of the door is brought into alinement with the spindle 19 and final attachment of the door to the spindle 19 is accomplished.

It will now be seen that the mounting of the door on the bottom pivot is simply a horizontal sliding of the door over the pivot thrust bearing, rather than a lifting and setting on operation as in the case of ordinary pivot brackets, the latch member 16 being automatically lifted by its sliding engagement with the thrust bearing and then dropping gravitationally to its latching position. Thus the door can be mounted while held in a vertical position, substantially parallel with the doorway opening, and without the need for temporary blocking-up or shimming.

When it becomes necessary to remove a door 10 from the pivotal mountings 17 and 18, the insertion of a fiat instrument, such as a screw driver, into contact with the lower face of the latch bar 16 elevates the inner end of the latch bar above the thrust-bearing seat 15. This will permit the withdrawal of the pivot bracket 11 from operative relationship on the thrust bearing 22 with but a small amount of horizontal edgewise sliding movement of the door, the upper end of the door having been first disconnected from the spindle 19.

The main advantages of my improved bottom pivot bracket reside in its construction which permits its being mounted on a fixed thrust hearing by a simple endwise movement of the bracket, laterally of the thrust bearing and at substantially the same elevation; in the self-acting latch means incorporated within the pivot bracket structure; in the arrangement wherein the pivot bracket is made to counterbalance the weight of the door and to automatically adjust itself for closely fitted door frame openings where non-adjustable thrust bearings are employed; and in the simple construction of the device whereby its cost of manufacture is low and its installation and use can be accomplished rapidly and easily by one man.

Although several specific embodiments of this invention have been herein shown and described it will be understood that details of the constructions shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A bracket element, for the bottom pivotal mounting of center-hung doors, comprising (a) a body adapted for mortised mounting in the bottom end of a door and having lateral flanges on the normally downward face defining a channel open at one end and terminating at an inner end wall intermediate the ends of said body,

(b) there being an annular thrust bearing seat parallel with said face and adjacent the inner end of said channel,

(0) a shiftable latch member disposed within the said channel intermediate the open end thereof and said thrust bearing seat and having one end normally disposed to laterally engage a thrust bearing positioned axially on said seat,

(1) said latch member having a pair of pins on each side extending through vertical slots in the lateral flanges of the body to permit vertical shifting of the latch member in said channel, and

(2) said latch member being shiftable to move its said one end toward the floor of said channel and out of the path of the thrust bearing when the latter enters the channel longitudinally thereof from the open end of the channel.

2. A bracket element for the bottom pivotal mounting of center-hung doors comprising,

(a) a body having a channel in one face opening at one end of the body and terminating intermediate the ends of the body,

(b) said body having a bore in the bottom of said channel adjacent the inner end thereof,

(0) a thrust-bearing trunnion slidably seated in said bore with one end protruding into the channel,

(d) means positioned in said bore for resiliently holding said trunnion against axial movement into said bore, and

(e) a shiftable latch bar mounted in the body and normally extending into the said channel intermediate the open end thereof and the said trunnion,

(1) said latch bar being shiftable toward the floor of said channel and gravity-actuated normally to a position outwardly beyond the said one end of said trunnion for engaging a thrust bearing axially seated on the trunnion and holding the said bearing against lateral displacement from the trunnion.

3. A bracket element as set forth in claim 2 wherein the trunnion has a rim on its upper end normally resting on a radial rim at the end of the bore opening to said channel, the bore is threaded at its upper end to receive an internal nut, a nut is disposed in said bore for axial adjustment therein, and the resilient means consists of a compression spring interposed between the trunnion and said nut.

4. A bracket element as set forth in claim 2 wherein the body has a recess in the floor of said channel for receiving the latch bar and the latch bar is mounted on the body for sliding movement into and out of the said recess to retract from and extend into the channel.

References Cited by the Examiner STATES PATENTS Carter 2018 Freschner 16-151 West 16-129 Ferguson 16151 Hollansworth 16'-151 Vincent 20-16 Hertzke 16174 X Reiss 16136 X Martin 16-151 WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

DONLEY I. STOCKING, M. HENSON WOOD, JR.,

Examiners. 

2. A BRACKET ELERMENT FOR THE BOTTOM PIVOTAL MOUNTING OF CENTER-HUNG DOORS COMPRISING, (A) A BODY HAVING A CHANNEL IN ONE FACE OPENING AT ONE END OF THE BODY AND TERMINATING INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF THE BODY, (B) SAID BODY HAVING A BORE IN THE BOTTOM OF SAID CHANNEL ADJACENT THE INNER END THEREOF, (C) A THRUST-BEARING TRUNNION SLIDABLY SEATED IN SAID BORE WITH ONE END PORTRUDING INTO THE CHANNEL, (D) MEANS POSITIONED IN SAID BORE FOR RESILIENTLY HOLDING SAID TRUNNION AGAINST AXIAL MOVEMENT INTO SAID BORE, AND (E) A SHIFTABLE LATCH BAR MOUNTED IN THE BODY AND NORMALLY EXTENDING INTO THE SAID CHANNEL INTERMEDIATE THE OPEN END THEREOF AND THE SAID TRUNNION, (1) SAID LATCH BAR BEING SHIFTABLE TOWARD THE FLOOR OF SAID CHANNEL AND GRAVITY-ACTUATED NORMALLY TO A POSITION OUTWARDLY BEYOND THE SAID ONE END OF SAID TRUNNION FOR ENGAGING A THRUST BEARING AXIALLY SEATED ON THE TRUNNION AND HOLDING THE SAID BEARING AGAINST LATERAL DISPLACEMENT FROM THE TRUNNION. 